What is Zika virus?

About Zika virus:

• It is a mosquito-borne virus, similar to dengue fever, yellow fever, and West Nile virus. 
• It is a single-strand ribonucleic acid (RNA) virus.
• It was named after the Zika Forest in Uganda, where it had been discovered for the first time in 1947, and the first human case of Zika was reported in 1952.
• It typically occurs in tropical and subtropical areas of Africa, the Americas, Southern Asia, and the Western Pacific.
• Transmission:
  • It is most commonly spread to people by the bite of an infected Aedes species mosquito.
  • It can also spread through sexual contact, blood transfusion, and from an infected mother to her baby during pregnancy or childbirth.
• Symptoms and Complications:
  • Many people infected with Zika will not have symptoms or will only have mild symptoms.
  • The most common symptoms are fever, rash, headache, joint and muscle pain, and red eyes.
  • Infection during pregnancy can cause certain birth defects, such as microcephaly, as well as other neurological disorders in the baby.
  • It has also been linked to Guillain-Barré syndrome, a rare autoimmune disorder that can lead to muscle weakness and paralysis.
• Treatment: There is currently no vaccine to prevent or medicine to treat Zika.